The Truth About Those WMDs Supposedly Discovered in Iraq
Well, it’s time to put an end to this nonsense once and for all. To begin with, even supporters of Bush should be smart enough to realize that if even ONE weapon of mass destruction capable of doing harm to American citizens had finally been discovered in Iraq, Bush would be strutting around in his flak jacket again, shouting out in mangled English “I told ya so!” That we thankfully haven’t been subjected to Bush in a flak jacket again is really all the reason necessary to realize that WMDs still haven’t been found.
In the second place, Pres. Bush HIMSELF has been quoted recently as saying no WMDs were ever actually discovered; that he only thought they were there. Now I fully understand if anyone’s first reaction upon hearing Bush say something is to believe in the exact opposite-that’s how I treat what Bush says and I’m the happier for it. But his lies typically don’t tend to be of the self-incriminating kind. To say now that no WMDs have been found just isn’t the kind of thing Bush would say; he tends to stick with a falsehood even in the face of incontrovertible evidence. So, again, if you happen to be one of those people who actually believed Bush when he said he knew the weapons were there, why don’t you believe him when he says they aren’t?
Thirdly, of course, there are the statements of Rick Santorum who went around trying to save his sad Senatorial campaign by trying to scare his constituents into thinking the WMDs had been found. You’ve got to give Santorum credit; it’s really an accomplishment when you make even Bush, Rove and the rest of boys who so far have shown a willingness to say anything no matter how outrageous practically run over each other in an attempt to distance themselves from someone. Such was the size of Santorum’s misguided plan to turn an unfortunate truth into a campaign-saving lie.
Which brings us finally to the real truth about the discovery of WMDs in Iraq. The news that these WMDs were finally found in Iraq was broken by-who else-Fox News. Perhaps that is why the misinformation being written and talked about as factual justification of Bush’s invasion persists among so many. Perhaps if more of these people would take the time to get their news somewhere in addition to-not necessarily besides-Fox, they might have heard the whole story by now.
The truth? Yes, chemical munitions were found. But they dated from before the FIRST Gulf War in 1991 and they were of such a degraded composition that they were deemed useless. If that’s not enough to convince you that the story of the discovery of WMDs in Iraq is simply a myth being propagated by desperate supporters of this war, then read this. It comes from the White House’s own report on Iraqi WMDs FOLLOWING the war and the search. Hardly a bastion of liberal thought.
“While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible Indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad’s desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.”
So, basically what you’ve got here is a true story about the discovery of useless weapons dating back to before sanctions were placed being purposely twisted into a lie for political gain by a GOP hack desperate to keep his Senate seat, then in turn being taken uncritically as proof that the WMDs Saddam had supposedly been creating since the end of the Gulf War were finally found.
The upshot: Three years and counting and, despite what you may hear or read, NO WMDS FOUND IN IRAQ.
